Ducati Diavel v Yamaha Vmax

War of Titans is something that you would love when you see two muscular giants in the ring for survival of the fittest. This comparison has got the very first contender from Italy and other from Japan. Yes we talking about the newly launched Ducati Diavel and Yamaha VMax. Needless to say the name itself suggests Ducati this time has given birth to a devil and this devil has already set its allure on Indian grounds, although Yamaha VMax in terms is another day to day commuting cruiser that proves a tough contender to this Italian devil.

Yamaha VMax and with this Cruiser, Yamaha has claimed to be the most powerful motor to be ever built in earth. In this shoot out you will be briefed up with the winner in this high end cruiser segment. The premium bikers of India has always been inspired with cruiser style bikes that give sports bike performance, enhanced handling and comfort. Let’s see who makes out in this war.
1st View point

How can you describe the V-Max as King of the Heap when talking about acceleration? It might be near the top when it comes to cost but it’s not the fastest. A well ridden Hayabusa or ZZR1400 is quicker. My own lightly modded ZZR (TiForce exhaust and Power Commander) did a quarter in 9.84 seconds when geared 17/40 (UP one tooth at the rear) for top speed runs. I rode the Diavel last week, I covered about 90 miles and it’s a cracking motorcycle, I really liked it but we need to keep our heads here and not get carried away. It’s long and you can feel that when changing direction but for a “cruiser” it does handle rather well. The ground clearance is better than you’d expect and the Pirelli tyres help a lot. The engine sounds great, much better than it does in the Multistrada, most likely because the exhaust sound masks the other mechanical noise. Like I said, the Diavel is a great bike but keep it in perspective.

2nd View point

I think its OK if you say the Busa is one of the fastest production bikes of all time, and tbh I think any one on anything other than a ZZR would have a hard time in the dust of the Busa’s massive speed! I rode the Ducati today for over an hour and was shocked at the gut pulling power it has, it does go round bends but not quite like they say it does, the pegs and your feet touch down early into the turn and the rubber mounted bars do nothing to help the situation when it gets a head shake on in turns like it does!! The power lets you take to poorly valved rear shock out of the realms of safe riding very easy and the front forks lack speed of rebound! We tried to fettle the rear shock into some compromise with the front with little luck today so Ducati need to get the option sorted as an upgrade, took my girl on it too and quickly found that the grab rail opens your hand against the seat on hard acceleration and whats worse is the lack of locking of the rear pegs lets them fold away under the passengers feet on acceleration leaving her with no hold or foot on the rear of a very short seat!!! She was NOT impressed at all!!!! Other than that its a nice bike but easy to take into troubled times with such big power…the engine is a dream!